Geographic proximity is no longer the primary driver of auto purchases. In recent years, virtual dealerships have sprung up all over the Internet. When consumers go online to buy a car, there are usually multiple dealers that can sell a car to them. Intermediary consumer-oriented service providers typically have several automotive dealers in their system to which they can introduce to a customer.
Examples of the types of introductions may include an introduction for in-network dealers and an introduction for non-network dealers, and so on. In-network dealers may be those that have agreed to be in the intermediary service provider's network. For example, in-network dealers may agree to pay the intermediary service provider a fee for an introduction to a customer that ended up purchasing a vehicle, after the purchase is made. This is sometimes referred to as Pay-Per-Sale. Currently, there is not a standardized way to operate in this marketplace. Customers may visit multiple online solution providers, including automotive research sites, lead generation providers, etc., for their vehicle purchasing needs.
Existing solutions are believed to be lacking or have drawbacks in at least the following main areas: (1) leads are generally purchased in bulk where all leads in the same group or category have the same price; 2) the determining factors on which dealers should be presented to which customers are generally based on a simple set of considerations; and (3) little or no access to historical information across a wide consumer base. As more and more consumers now surf the Internet to find deals, there is always room for improvement.